Looking for a new travel trailer, where to start?

Askibum02 wrote:
I'm looking for a new travel trailer, and I don't know where to start.

Always start with what your truck is rated to safely tow and don't be fooled by those pie-in-the-sky "tow ratings". ;) Both those trailers you've mentioned are pretty big and could easily push beyond the limits of most 1/2 ton trucks, especially when it comes to payload capacity. A trailer with bunk beds infers you it won't be just 2 adults in the truck when towing so keep in mind that the weight of people and cargo in the truck count against it's payload capacity, often leaving insufficient capacity to account for trailer tongue weight transferred to the truck once hitched up. :( Family trailers like this also tend to run GVW awfully close to GVWR because all those extra people means a lot of extra "stuff" that an adult couple alone wouldn't be dragging along.

Another consideration is the holding tank capacity. The Keystone only has a 30 gal. gray tank...My experience with a bunkhouse and kids is that's going to be a problem...

Stuff you don't think about pops up later. i.e. holding tank size, counter space, pantry, slides that block the bathroom or frig when they are in.

Good luck with your search.

It would be tight, but I think it would work. According to the yellow sticker on the driver side door jam, the payload is 1582 lbs. There's four of us weighing about 600 lbs total. Everything besides us would go in the trailer, add a 100lbs for the hitch, that would leave us with about 880lbs of tongue weight, which should be enough.

Sounds like you are new to RVs. If so don't limit yourself to just new units as there are many slightly used used ones out there that will be cheaper. I suggest this, as once you start using your TT you will find that some features you thought were important are not and vice versa.

I just looked up that 2920BH. Says ship weight of 5400. Let's say it's 5500 and you add another 1000 pounds. 6500 would be easily set up to be towed by your Silverado 1500. Use a good WD hitch and learn to set it up yourself. The dealer likely will do a poor job of setup.

Don't let the payload/weight police drag you down here. They will be along shortly to tell you that you need to go buy a 2500HD. "It's what they do". Some folks just like to rain on the parade and try to make you spend more money.
Others will tell you a 1500 series is "just a car on steroids". Try to ignore the cheap comments from the peanut gallery, and do your own research.

A lot depends on what type of camping you intend to do. Will you mostly go to campgrounds with full hookups, partial hookups, or none? Are you gonna take bikes, kayaks or other toys?
Good luck with your search.

prichardson wrote:
Sounds like you are new to RVs. If so don't limit yourself to just new units as there are many slightly used used ones out there that will be cheaper. I suggest this, as once you start using your TT you will find that some features you thought were important are not and vice versa.

I'm open to used too, it just seems that, around here, for late model one to two year old TT there isn't a huge difference in price between new and used.

GrandpaKip wrote:
A lot depends on what type of camping you intend to do. Will you mostly go to campgrounds with full hookups, partial hookups, or none? Are you gonna take bikes, kayaks or other toys?
Good luck with your search.

We would likely be doing mostly campgrounds with full hook ups, split time between NC beaches and Western NC mountains. At most for recreation equipment would be two bikes and fishing poles.

gmw photos wrote:
Don't let the payload/weight police drag you down here. They will be along shortly to tell you that you need to go buy a 2500HD. "It's what they do". Some folks just like to rain on the parade and try to make you spend more money.

Count me in as one of the payload police. I wish I would have listened to them back when we bought our first trailer.

Here's a link to the Thor Industries family of RV. Select any brand and then drill down to the "Visit Website" link. This will take you to each brand web site. Then select any model and move to the bottom of the page and select the floor plan links. You can scan through the floor plans and select any of them, and find out more detail about the individual camper. Almost all of the brand sites will let you do this. You will find, just the "Thor" family of campers, there are lots and lots of bunkhouse style campers, many of which are similar to the ones you are considering. Just have some fun exploring. Be warned, you'll get exhausted before you can explore them all. So do this over a few days, taking note of the models that appeal to you.

Remember, this is "Thor Industries" only. There are a other manufacturers also. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Click here

Three things have to match. 1. The cargo capacity of the tow vehicle. 2. The floor plan. It cannot be changed easily. 3. Cost, it must not be burdensome.

Your TV can pull far more than it can carry, tongue weight often uses up about half of the cargo capacity.

Floor plan stays when all else is forgotten or accepted.

RVing is a hobby, cost should treated accordingly.

Good luck